Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis daily fluctuation, anxiety and age interact to predict cortisol concentrations in boys with an autism spectrum disorder

Title
Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis daily fluctuation, anxiety and age interact to predict cortisol concentrations in boys with an autism spectrum disorder
Publication Date
2015
Author(s)
Bitsika, Vicki
Sharpley, Christopher
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7922-4848
Email: csharpl3@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:csharpl3
Andronicos, Nicholas
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5881-2296
Email: nandroni@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:nandroni
Agnew, Linda
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2803-0995
Email: lagnew2@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:lagnew2
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Elsevier Inc
Place of publication
United States of America
DOI
10.1016/j.physbeh.2014.11.010
UNE publication id
une:16346
Abstract
There is considerable evidence of a confound between symptoms of generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children who have an ASD. Although there have been several attempts to describe how these two disorders overlap and interact to influence the assessment and diagnosis of children with an ASD, principally by reference to cortisol assayed from these children's saliva, the overall evidence is inconsistent. Because previous models of these relationships have focused upon cortisol and GAD to the exclusion of age, diurnal fluctuation in the HPA axis and the source of GAD data, these variables were examined in a sample of 150 young males with an ASD. Results indicated that there was a significant interaction between these variables, with the association between GAD and cortisol demonstrated for children but not for adolescents, with an interaction between the source of GAD information (self- vs parent-ratings) and whether the child's cortisol concentrations followed the expected diurnal reduction during the day. These data suggest that the validity of cortisol as a biomarker of GAD in children and adolescents with an ASD may be established for only selected subgroups of this population.
Link
Citation
Physiology & Behavior, v.138, p. 200-207
ISSN
1873-507X
0031-9384
Start page
200
End page
207

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